Home → About NC Cardinal → Annual Reports and Surveys → 2023-2024 Annual Survey Responses
Last Updated 08/01/2024
Each year in our Annual Staff Survey, we have a few open-ended questions we ask to solicit your thoughts.
This has been a great opportunity to get your feedback and figure out what we need to focus on. Some comments we can reply to with solutions or links to documentation that may help. Some suggestions may take some planning, so we’ve added them to our "To Do" list. Other times, we may ask for more information or clarification on what your thoughts are. We may think you're saying one thing when you're really saying something else, so forgive us if our reply misses the point. We appreciate the feedback, so if you're able to offer more detail or point us in the right direction, feel free to email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org
For changes to the Evergreen software that are out of our direct control, we’ve created a wishlist or bug report in the Evergreen community’s LaunchPad tool. (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen) This is the tool that the Evergreen development community uses to discuss and track software updates. If we found an existing Launchpad request that matched your suggestion, we've shared a link to it, otherwise we added your suggestion to Launchpad and shared a link to it. We encourage you to review those links, comment, “add heat”, or follow the progress of addressing the issue. (You will need to create a free account on Launchpad in order to comment or add heat to something.)
In general, if you want to submit further details or follow up on a suggestion the best way is to email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org Generally, screenshots of error messages, barcodes for patrons or items, TCNs and other such details may help us understand what you’re encountering.
We really appreciate the thoughtful feedback everyone has offered. We want to be accountable to your input and transparent in our responses, so we've tried to respond to everything as best we can.
Benjamin Murphy, NC Cardinal Program Manager
Search functionality
The search functionality is really at the core of Evergreen and one of the most important parts of the effectiveness of the software. We have made some tweaks in the last year, like adding MARC fields to search indexes to try to improve our results. Due to how integrated it is into the software, Cardinal generally has to rely on the larger Evergreen development community for improvements to search.
We'd also like to see some more modern search behavior in Evergreen, which helps users get closer to what they're looking for if they aren't precise in what they search for. Many of these sorts of core elements of the software take time for such big changes. As mentioned last year, we've been talking about how we might be able to support the implementation of Elasticsearch (https://www.elastic.co/elasticsearch) We'll keep on pushing for improvements.
This should be the case when you have Sort by Relevance chosen in the search options. That being said, the process of assigning relevance is part of the inner workings of the search process may have unexpected conclusions about what is relevant. If you see any unexpected results, we're happy to investigate.
We'd be interested to learn more details that we can investigate or suggestions you may have for improvements.
On the staff side, subject headings are clickable in the Staff View tab of the bib record. Would it be helpful for them to be links as well in the MARC View tab?
Due to the way an author search performs currently, if you include additional information that is not included in the author field of the MARC record (=100 field), then you will not receive results for that author. Using John E. Ross as an example, the =100 field includes the information "Ross, John, 1946-" with no E. So if you search for "Through the Mountains" with "Ross, John" or "John Ross," you will get a result (though you may need to click through a page or two of results to see it). However, if you search for "John E. Ross" or "John E Ross" or "Ross, John E," you will get no results, because the "E" is throwing the search off. There is an active bug report for just this type of situation (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2059911) that will hopefully allow for searching of alternate versions of authors' names in the future.
Thanks for your suggestion. We're working on making this possible. Please add heat to this launchpad wishlist bug to get the community's attention onto the issue. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073988
We've added this suggestion to Launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1028663
Search facets and filters are configurable, but also rely on existing data in the cataloging records to work. We've added this topic as one to discuss with our catalogers to figure out what's feasible based on the data we have. We can look into reader age filters specifically.
This can be done now by performing a Subject search for the genre. You can find more information regarding this in the Knowledge Book. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=48
We had that same issue in the public facing OPAC and made modifications to how the filters are displayed to address it. We'll investigate how we can fix it in the staff client.
Sounds like you're referring to the staff search? Its hard to say why someone designed it one way or another. Recently, there was a new tab added labeled Staff View which shows more details about the item without requiring you to click through to the Patron View. We're happy to hear suggestions on ways to make it more efficient or simple.
Lost & Missing don't show up in the public OPAC, so we presume you mean the staff search. There is a Limit to Available checkbox on the search form, but that doesn't obscure lost and missing once you go to the item table for a record. I submitted a wishlist bug for this suggestion: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073989
Makes sense. There's an active Launchpad bug for this request: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1028663
We're interested to hear more about what you mean by this.
If the series number is in the 245$n, it should be showing up in the public OPAC and the staff view. This might be a cataloging issue. We'd be interested in seeing examples of what you mean.
This should be possible by expanding the three dot menu in the staff search (to the right of the Search Terms field). It is also available in the advanced search page in the OPAC.
This is a result of cataloging items with a 655 tag of large print, clickable genre headings are populated through 655.
If I'm understanding you correctly, there should be options on those results pages (usually in the top right of the search results) to click through to the other pages. Another short term workaround we use is to replace "&limit=10" in the web address to something like "&limit=250" to see more results on one page.
Not sure if you're referring to the public or staff search, but the typical path we use is to click on the "Library:" field of the search form. It drops down some options and you can start typing the branch name to see it on the list. In the staff search, the box at the top right also allows you to target a branch by starting to type the name. If you click on the Search Preferences link under the library name on the staff search, you can set your default search library, which may help to keep your searches scoped to what you're interested in seeing. E-resources in search
We've recently updated the "Exclude electronic resources" criteria so that it should exclude everything that has an item Form of Electronic or Online, or a format icon of e-book, e-audio, e-video or e-serials. We've found that some of the cataloging records we get from vendors aren't properly cataloged to be caught by these filters. If you come across examples of electronic records that are bypassing the e-resource filter, please let us know the TCN so that we can figure out what the problem is, find the other records that have the same problem and fix it in bulk.
If you'd like to make this "Exclude electronic resources" checkbox checked by default on your patron facing OPAC search, we can do that. If you'd like, your library system also has the option of making electronic resources in the catalog not findable at all in your OPAC search results. Please submit a ticket if your library would like to completely remove these hits from your search results.
This option is still available, but moved to the "Search Preferences" link shown on the right hand side when you're doing a catalog search in the Staff catalog. Server
This is something we're always working to monitor and address. If you're experiencing slowness, its helpful for you to post on the Incidents Basecamp list so that we can investigate the health of the servers at the moment and address anything that's happening. OPAC interface
In the last few years, we've made a variety of updates to the mobile view of our catalog. We'd love to hear suggestions on other things we can work on. (We have some thoughts on images and deduplication shared elsewhere in our responses.)
Cardinal has looked into pricing of commercial apps, but we found that it was cost prohibitive to implement consortia-wide. Some member libraries have a choice to implemented an app called MyLibro and we're happy to help if you'd like to do this.
When you perform a title search, you are also going to get results where the title appears in a MARC record in a =246 field, =505$t field, =730 field, etc., even if the title you are searching for does not actually appear in the =245 field. This is why it may seem like you are receiving results that having to do with the title for which you searched.
We'll investigate adding more space below the item table or making the line between titles more prominent.
We're interested to learn more about what your ideas are. Something like a basic form that has a title and author field and the ability to add other filters?
We're open to suggestions on things that could be done to make the interface more user friendly.
We will pass this suggestion on to the Evergreen developer community.
Would this be for an individual patron to be able to opt out of seeing that option, or for a specific location? This is generally set at a library system level. Our best suggestion might be to have you submit a ticket so we can see what we can do to meet your needs.
Evergreen has an option called KPAC which is a kid friendly OPAC, but we haven't invested much time customizing it for any of our libraries. You can see it by replacing the /eg/opac in your library's web address with /eg/kpac. If you're interested in developing it, send us a ticket. Interface--General
This may be something that is configurable in your barcode scanner. Its possible to set it up so that it sends an "enter" character after scanning a barcode
We are not quite sure what you mean here. When you scan an out-of-county item in Item Status, does the item not appear in the list? Or are you asking if there is a way to make the Detail View appear immediately instead of having to click the button? Or do you want Item Status to take you directly to the item record? The functionality is the same for in-county and out-of-county items.
We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073774). We recommend library staff add heat to it so that it will garner more attention.
That refresh behavior occurs when you log into the staff client using a web address that ends in 'nccardinal.org/eg/staff' Instead, we recommend updating your staff client link to end with 'nccardinal.org/eg2/en-US/staff' Your link should look like: https://yourlibrarysystemname.nccardinal.org/eg2/en-US/staff
This is something we've been working on in the public facing catalog this year. On the patron facing OPAC, in the top left where it says Search the Catalog, we added a little question mark icon that takes you to a video on search basics. Within the staff interface, some of the MARC editor fields have this sort of functionality where you can right click and get a list of options, but we'd love to see more of this as well. We're all for suggestions for places tooltips and hints would be useful.
We found a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad. You can find it at the following link, and we recommend adding heat to it so that it gains more attention. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2009725
We found a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad. You can find it at the following link, and we recommend adding heat to it so that it gains more attention. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2009726
We're open to any suggestions you have on how to make the staff/user interface more friendly.
This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but we added a Launchpad bug for better organization of the available columns in the grid column selector: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073995
We're always open to suggestions!
We're always open to suggestions on improving the usability and function of the software. Some of the elements we have control of, others are designed by the larger Evergreen community, but we can make suggestions and advocate for what we want to see. Error messages
There are a few existing bug reports on Launchpad related to this. We recommend adding heat to them so that they will get more attention. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1576754 https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1974469 https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2017306 Circulation Interface
There are several keyboard shortcuts that could make navigation more efficient. A list is available in the Knowledge Books (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=452). Additionally, it's possible to configure the Splash Page to include more direct links to commonly used circulation functions. If you are interested in this, have your library's System Administrator submit a help desk ticket.
We're open to suggestions on how to make circulation more user friendly.
A lost-then-returned item will disappear from the Items Out screen only when all bills linked to this particular circulation have been resolved. If there are still bills associated with the circulation, then the item will remain in the Other/Special Circulations tab of the patron account. Once the bills have been resolved, the item will be removed from the Other/Special Circulations tab and no longer appear on the patron's account. If you wish to have the item removed immediately upon check in, you may want to consider adjusting your library's void lost max interval, which is the period of time in which lost fees will be removed from a patron's account upon returning a lost item. If they return the item after the interval has passed, then the fees will still remain on their account. Patron accounts
Launchpad Bug 1791760 describes the need to allow group lead accounts to view all grouped accounts to pay bills. I've added heat to this bug and included your comment in the comments section of the bug. Feel free to add heat at https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1791760 by selecting the "Does the bug affect you?" option.
You should be able to clone a patron's contact information and home library automatically to use in multiple accounts by clicking on the "Save & Clone" button found in the top right corner of the Patron Registration and Patron Edit Screens. The Daytime Phone, Evening Phone, Home Library, and Mailing Address should be replicated into this new record. We'll investigate whether we can configure this process to include more fields.
This is possible by using the "Photo URL" field in the Patron Account edit screen. You will need to have an online repository where the photos are stored in order to link out to them. If this feature is used, the photos will show up at the top of the left hand column of patron information in their account. In general, the Evergreen community chose this solution to avoid having pictures stored in the database.
If we understand you correctly, you should be able to limit your search to a specific library in the patron search field, by choosing the name of the patron's branch or system in the field that generally has a default of CARDINAL. If you're not seeing this field, click on the down arrow next to the Search button on the patron search form to see more options.
We agree! Right now its possible to search by DOB, name, etc. but we don't know of a good way to have a little looser of a search to find potential duplicates or matches that aren't strictly the same. We're open to ideas on what we could suggest to the community.
We've submitted a wishlist request to make this field sticky, so that if you choose System or Branch, it would default to that next time: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073999
Fields displayed on the Patron Registration form can be altered with library settings. Feel free to email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org and we can assist you in removing the needed fields from being displayed on the Patron Registration Form for your system
There currently is the option of grouping accounts together so that you can see fines and overdues for all group members, if you pull up one of the member accounts. (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=493) Are there other things you'd like to be able to do?
We have created a wishlist bug report on Launchpad for this request. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2074010 Circulation history
I'm currently unable to locate any settings that control the amount of reading history a patron can see from the OPAC. We will investigate whether its an issue with the amount of data that is attempting to be retrieve in the patron's reading history verse the length of time.
We can understand how this would be useful, but Evergreen developers made an intentional design decision to let patrons choose to opt-in to history tracking via the My Account section of the OPAC, so that patrons know about and manage the information available about their activity. Billing and Payments
We're planning on offering training this upcoming year on billing and payments. We'll make an announcement about it on Basecamp and would welcome any questions or issues you can suggest for us to cover.
Are you referring to when we waive fines in bulk like when a library has an amnesty period, or something that the software does when it is accounting for things like returns of lost materials? If its something we're doing in our procedures for bulk changes, we can alter how we do bulk waivers. If its part of the way the software functions by default, we'd have to pursue it with the Evergreen developer community.
We'd be interested to hear more about what suggestions you have or what things you'd like to see improvements on.
We're happy to set this up for you. Email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org and we can update your circulation policies to be fine free.
Right now, we have the normal processes of adding fines and notifying the patrons. If the fines aren't paid, some libraries use debt collection or debt setoff options that are available. We'd be interested to hear more about your ideas.
There are a few ways to receive credit card payments, such as AuthorizeNet, PayPal, PayflowPro, or Stripe. (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=386) Some self check machines also have the ability to receive and process credit card payments. Email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org if you'd like help setting this up. Cataloging Interface
We have several MARC templates in the Knowledge Book that we recommend catalogers use as references when having to create bibliographic records from scratch. They can be found at the following link. We will be adding more templates in the near future based on specific item recommendations from catalogers, like graphic novels. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=32
Subject and genre headings are pulled from a number of different sources like Library of Congress, Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, Etc., Homosaurus Thesaurus, and so on, so some inconsistencies may arise, but we have a list of approved subject and genre heading codes we recommend catalogers use in the Knowledge Book. They can be found at https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=47. Additionally, the Marcive process reviews and updates subject and genre headings as necessary, though it may occasionally miss some as it only looks at records that have been edited within the past three months each time it is run. We are continually looking at ways to try and standardize different elements and fields on MARC records.
This is something that the community that develops Evergreen may eventually remove, and unfortunately its not something we have much control over.
If you typically use the Flat Text Editor, we would recommend trying out the Enhanced MARC Editor, as it more clearly separates out the individual fields in the MARC Edit screen, and you can make edits to each field in much the same way as you would in the Flat Text Editor. Some of the fields also have labels you can right click on to see options. If, however, you are already using the Enhanced MARC Editor and still find it difficult to use, accessibility-related changes are coming to the Enhanced MARC Editor with future Evergreen upgrades that should hopefully make it a bit easier to read/view. We're open to ideas and suggestions. Cataloging Standards
Over the years we've developed our Cataloging Best Practices with this goal in mind. One part of addressing this is figuring out what the norm should be and documenting it. The other part of the challenge is getting everyone that is working with records to know and follow the guidelines. Lately we've been approaching this by doing batch edits to MARC records to clean up easily correctable issues, but not every problem is fixable by these broad changes.
We've spent some time discussing and updating our guidelines for graphic novels and manga recently. We've also recently done a mini-project to make them more consistently cataloged. Part of the challenge is making sure that everyone is aware of the updated guidance and following the guidelines.
We can work on defining this with our Cataloging Committee and publishing some guidelines. This may also be something we can fix in batch once we know what we're striving for.
We'd be interested to learn more about what you mean. Are you referring to more content on our MARC templates pages? https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=32
This is something that we will begin working on, and we welcome any additional suggestions for specific items or materials that catalogers feel would benefit most from having their own item templates.
This is something catalogers can do by adding 'Bilingual books' in the 655 field.
We subscribed to access to the RDA toolkit for a few years but stopped the subscription due to low usage.
We're open to suggestions or ideas on ways we can improve support for cataloging. Catalog Cleanup
Up until now we have only been able to schedule the automated deduplication process for once a year because it takes a significant amount of time and we have to coordinate the work with our hosting vendor Mobius. However, as we have continued to streamline the process and really hone in on the necessary criteria for a successful deduplication, less and less time will be required for reviewing and studying the results, making tweaks to the process, and performing tests. This may allow us in the future to schedule more automated deduplications throughout the year. For example, because we had such a successful run earlier this year, we felt confident enough to move forward with creating a new deduplication process that would focus on video materials, which have not been previously covered by the deduplication. Additionally, we have developed a new system for catalogers to review the "Needs Humans" lists and perform manual deduplications. We encourage consortium catalogers, as they have time, to continue to review the records we shared with them in buckets and to manually merge as much as possible. This will help further the success of future automated deduplications, as well as help to keep the catalog clean and orderly.
Our current deduplication process includes Audiobooks. We're currently in the midst of a process to deduplicate DVDs and other video content. Cover Images
On a basic level, we rely on the free Open Library service for book covers. If an image is missing there, its possible to add it (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=353) Evergreen also has an option to upload cover images (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=818) In general, this is something we rely on catalogers throughout Cardinal to do as they see a title is missing a cover image.
We've talked to several vendors over the years and are keeping our eyes open for other options. Part of the challenge is cost for a consortium of our size. Shelving locations
There currently are Graphic Novel and Easy Reader shelving locations. (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=99) Perhaps your library isn't using them?
This is a balancing act we're always trying to figure out. Having Cardinal-wide shelving locations makes administration and policy configuration much easier. In a resource sharing environment, having shelving locations others aren't using can result in strange behavior when the book is checked out elsewhere. Its possible to add unique local shelving locations if you send us a ticket. Our general guidelines are here: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=99
We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073976). We recommend library staff add heat to it so that it will garner more attention.
We can investigate ways for how best to accomplish this. Item editing
There is an existing wishlist Launchpad bug for this. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1862982 Baskets/Buckets/Lists
We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073771).
Buckets (and many other grids in the angular interfaces) allow users to add and remove columns. We have created new documentation in the KB illustrating the process of adding columns in buckets specifically. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=937
Baskets will time out eventually. Buckets are permanent until you remove items from them. You can turn a basket into a bucket, or add items in a basket to an existing bucket. Offline mode
We will offer training in Offline Mode in October. Printing
When paying a bill, you can select the number of copies of the receipt to print by changing the number in the box labeled #Copies underneath the bills grid. Novelist
We've made some changes recently with EBSCO that added specific information for libraries that were seeing generic availability. Have a look and see if this is still an issue. If so, let us know. Notifications-General
This is possible. A handful of libraries use HTML notices. If your library would like to set this up, please submit a ticket. Notifications-SMS
This is something we're actively working on deploying. We have a new contract for a service called MessageBee that we're working to implement.
In addition to the upcoming changes with MessageBee, libraries are welcome to use 3rd party vendors for notices if they wish. At this point we generate daily exports for a few member libraries that use other tolls to notify patrons.
With us moving to an SMS vendor that charges per message sent, I don't expect us to expand the types of notices we send SMSes for this year.
We're happy to make updates. Please submit a ticket if you come across a carrier that is not listed. Resource Sharing
Open to suggestions or ideas on how we can help.
Based on your comment we've run some reports to look at how long things sit between the time they're captured and when they're checked in at the requesting branch. We found some instances where things took much longer than you'd expect, but the average time is a little over a week. If you encounter this situation, we're happy to look into it in the moment. Please contact Will, who takes the lead on Resource Sharing issues william.szwagiel@dncr.nc.gov
We're open to suggestions.
This is something we're trying to address in our Resource Sharing Basecamp group. We've been publishing how to guides and expect to release our Resource Sharing Best Practices soon.
I'm not sure that this would be feasible financially. Every package has a built in cost before you take into consideration what it weighs and where its going. This could be possible for libraries sending multiple packages to one destination.
FedEx has a fairly consistent delivery time, but the delays tend to happen between when something is pulled and the time it takes to make it through delivery to hubs and branches.
We'd be interested to learn more about this. Is the idea to limit the number of items a patron can request? Limit the number of hold requests overall? Reduce the amount of things being shipped?
In the past, Cardinal supplied a basic level of shipping materials but we found we were spending as much money splitting up the materials and shipping out to libraries. After discussions with our Governance Committee, we elected to discontinue distributing shipping materials and rely on libraries to source materials through recycling and local sources.
If you haven't seen it, check out the video Johnston county put together for us recently: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=903
We've considered having assessments like catalogers have, but are primarily focusing on improving our training resources and communication about resource sharing best practices and guidelines. Hold targeting
Are you referring to an alert in the staff view if you retarget a hold? If so, there should be a green pop up in the bottom right of the screen that momentarily shows "Successfully Retargeted Hold" If you're referring to something else, we welcome clarification.
I believe what you're seeing is the holds targeter process running in real time. It has to process the hold rules, look at the available copies, rank them and then try to target a new item. We will however see if there's anything we can do to speed the process up.
We're interested to hear more details of what you're thinking.
We're interested to hear more details of what you're thinking.
We don't expect to return to the random process of grabbing a book from any library. All of those copies are still accessible, but the one that's closest is favored for efficiency and cost sake. Are there difficulties you've encountered with the closest proximity change?
This sounds like this might be a case where there are not other available copies on that bib record? If you have a record for a book and the one it targeted is not available, you may need to redirect the target of the hold if there is another Cardinal record that is a duplicate of your record. The easiest way to do this is to merge your bib with the Cardinal record with more copies. Information on Retargeting Holds can be found here: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=528 If there isn't another bib with copies of the same title, this may be a situation where it is a Hopeless Hold. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=668 Hold pull list
Another option is to go to the gear icon in the top right of the list and choose "download csv" This allows you to work with the list as a spreadsheet and delete any rows you're not interested in, or target the list to specific shelving locations or areas of your library.
The best suggestion we have at the moment is to show the Queue Position column in the Open Hold Requests grid on the patron account. You can add this column by clicking on the down arrow at the top right of that list. Be sure to then go back to that down arrow and choose Save Columns so that it shows up on your Hold Requests screen in the future. This will at least give you a sense of where their request is.
Opportunistic holds has some benefits to keeping things from bouncing around branches unnecessarily, but it also means that things can get siloed at the branch they get checked in at if they're popular there. As we continue to work with the holds targeter, we'll see if we can improve this behavior. Hold functionality and interface
As we understand the behavior right now, patrons can not place holds on materials under six month age hold protection if their library does not also have a copy in a holdable status (including On Order or In Process.) There's not a setting that defines this behavior, so we will investigate what it would take to change this and the implications it might have for resource sharing holds.
Upon investigation, we're surprised to see this isn't explained anywhere on the patron side. Another comment suggests improvement to the Age-Hold error message, so we'll approach these two together. Fix the error message and find a way to refer patrons to details on what's happening with Age Hold behavior. In researching this, we came across this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1869893
This message can easily be updated once a consensus has been reached across NC Cardinal. We'll work on figuring out a better message.
We can investigate the options for showing more than Available or Checked Out in the public facing catalog. The challenge is that it may be difficult for the system to make sense of all of the reasons an item may be unholdable for the person viewing the record. Without logging in, the Evergreen knows certain shelving locations or branch collections may be unholdable, its hard to know if the item is or isn't holdable by the person seeing the catalog record. Once they log in, their home library, patron type and other information makes it easier to tell the viewer if that item is holdable by them.
From the Holds tab in the patron's account, click on the title in the grid to navigate into the Bibliographic Record for the title on hold. From there, you can click on the "View Holds" tab to see a list of all holds on the item, and check where your patron is in that list. Alternatively, you can add the column "Queue Position" to the Patron Holds grid in their account by clicking on the down arrow to open the grid management menu. This will show you their place in the queue directly in the holds screen.
We're open to suggestions or details of issues you've encountered.
In general, the holds targeter is constantly running and looking for available copies. After a period of time, it resets and looks to see if a better, in this case closer, copy is available. This is configured to happen though only after about 36 hours, to give libraries a chance to pull the things that are on their holds lists. We'd be interested to hear more of what you're thinking.
A wishlist bug for this feature currently exists (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1738021), and the feature is currently in development. We recommend adding heat to the bug report.
The Holds Shelf does not want items to disappear from the list until a library staff member has physically pulled the item from the hold shelf and processed it accordingly. It acts as a kind of safety mechanism to make sure things are not left lingering on the physical hold shelf that are no longer on hold. In the case of cancelled holds, similar to expired holds, the recommended course of action is to check the items in the Checkin Items screen using the Clear Holds Shelf checkin modifier instead of using the button to clear them from the Holds Shelf screen.
You may be clicking on the patron barcode after performing a search for the patron when going to place a hold on an item. If you do this, you will be taken to the patron's account and will indeed have to search for the item again from that screen to place the hold. Instead of clicking on the patron barcode, you need to check the box next to the patron barcode and then click the green "Select" button. This will take you back to the hold screen with the patron's information filled out so you can place the hold.
We are not entirely certain what you mean by this. Are you encountering a situation where, when a hold is placed, the hold is captured by an out-of-county library rather than a local, branch library that also has the item? Also, you should not have to force a hold for a patron unless you are attempting to place a hold on an item that is not actually holdable or may otherwise not be available for holds (such as an out-of-county item with a six month hold protection on it).
This is possible using the Metarecord Hold function. You can find detailed instructions for using this function in the staff client and the OPAC in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=471
This is possible using the Hold Groups function. You can find detailed instructions on setting up hold groups for book clubs and other groups, and instructions for placing holds for these groups in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=819
We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073773). We recommend library staff add heat to it so that it will garner more attention. Transits
If you're not aware of it, one of the tools you may find helpful is the Transit List, which is available under the menu Administration > Local Administration. It lets you see everything that is in transit to or from your system, sort by the send date, shelving location, destination library, etc. That being said, while things are in transit it can be hard to know where they are at the moment. FedEx has its own tracking, but that's not at the item level. We're considering changing to a courier and the tracking options would be a key consideration for us.
Some libraries use the tracking sheets linked to on this page: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=357 This is an area where I think we could also create some reports to provide details on where the materials in your collection are at the moment.
Essentially, that means that the material was checked in somewhere and belongs or was needed somewhere else. It can be traveling for a patron request, or coming back to its owning library. Booking module
Evergreen does currently offer a booking system that can be used for meeting room reservations. There are detailed instructions on setting up this function in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=130
While the Evergreen Booking Module does allow for meeting rooms reservations, it is currently only functional from the Staff Client. There is a wishlist item to add booking options to the OPAC. If this is something your library could benefit from, please add some heat: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1942097 Updates and upgrades
We can appreciate that perspective. There are a variety of voices involved in the process of designing Evergreen and the changes that are made. Developers may think they're doing something that's help, when in fact it complicates your workflow. Our best suggestion is to give us feedback so that we can relay that back through the Evergreen community Launchpad site.
This may be more feasible now that Evergreen is web based, but there is lot that goes into testing and training each time we do an upgrade. We don't know that upgrading more than once a year is feasible at this stage.
We will continue to hone and work to improve upgrade training webinars. Additionally, this year we will increase our upgrade training to include follow-up training opportunities after the upgrade is live.
We're open to suggestions on how to improve the experience. Reports
We recognize that the reports feature has a steep learning curve. Evergreen 3.13 will include updates to the reporter which may improve it's usability. Once the upgrade to 3.13 is complete, we will continue to offer training on reports, via webinars, at the in-person regional training events, and through asynchronous methods including videos and Niche Academy. Please feel free to reach out to us with requests for content on creating and running specific types of reports, and we will be sure to address those needs in our training materials. When a reports fails, we encourage you to submit a ticket that includes the fail log you received. We understand that these logs are not very clear, but we are always happy to look into them for you.
There have been many requests for updated descriptions of reports. We will begin to revisit the Centralized Reports Template after the upgrade and work to improve descriptions.
Once the 3.13 upgrade is complete this fall, we will begin offering training (live and pre-recorded) and publish new documentation about the updated interface. Regional trainings will continue to offer reports sessions as well.
We have plans for a new batch of reports training videos this fall to reflect the changes coming to the Reporter.
We've added this to our list of projects and goals for the upcoming year.
A wide variety of report templates exist in the Centralized Reports Templates folder. You can find information about content and accessing this folder in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=726
There have been many requests for updates to the Centralized Reports Templates content. We will begin to revisit the Centralized Reports Template after the upgrade.
That's an interesting suggestion. We're glad to see some focus on the reporter lately, and though the Simple Reports doesn't meet some people's needs, it and the changes that are coming in our next upgrade are the result of an awareness that Evergreen's reporter needs improvements. We'll keep pushing for progress. Training
We will continue to announce training opportunities via Basecamp, email, and the State Library's Train Station. We have developed a Knowledge Book Page for upcoming training events: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=930
We will be hosting a SLAM training webinar in December. Keep an eye out for more details.
Our next set of migrations has already begun, and we have taken the downtime since our last migration to re-design and hone the training provided to migrating libraries. If you have specific advice based on your own migration experience, please reach out to samantha.oconnor@dncr.nc.gov with ideas and suggestions.
Planning for training opportunities in the 24-25 fiscal year is underway, with 1-2 virtual training opportunities available each month, with both morning and afternoon sessions, and drop-in open training on rotating topics on the third Thursday of each month. Additionally, all webinars will be recorded and made available for those who were not able to attend live.
We have a fresh round of in-person regional trainings planned for this year. We're also planning on increasing our upgrade training this year to include follow up training opportunities after the upgrade is live.
This year we intend to host at least 3 cataloging webinars, and our in-person regional trainings will include cataloging specific sessions.
All live webinars and workshops are made available as recordings afterwards. Additionally, this year we will continue to develop video series offering training in individual functions related to various topics in Evergreen. Interactive asynchronous training is available in Niche Academy (https://my.nicheacademy.com/nccardinal) and we will continue to add content there as well.
We will continue to add to our resource-sharing training in Niche Academy, as well as through videos, virtual workshops, and in-person at the regional training events. You may find the Video or Step-By-Step guide on this page helpful if you're not familiar with it: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=90
We intend to host at least 3 cataloging webinars with content related to the Evergreen software, and our in-person regional trainings will include cataloging specific sessions. This is in addition to the training content provided widely by the State Library on general cataloging rules and best practices.
As we continue to hone the regional in-person training events, we will try to find new ways to ensure all staff needs are considered. If you have specific suggestions or ideas, please reach out directly to Samantha O'Connor at samantha.oconnor@dncr.nc.gov. Documentation
At your suggestion, we've added a dynamically generated last update tag to each KB page.
We try to balance having thorough documentation with not having so much content that its overwhelming. That being said, we're happy to get into the weeds where its useful. We're open to suggestion on what we should add documentation for.
We have received some recommendations for new templates for specific items like graphic novels, and we will be working to create these templates. We are open to suggestions for other templates, that we should focus on.
We are continually adding to and updating the Knowledge Books. As we find processes that need to be clarified, or functions that are not fully explained, we make an update to edit, expand, or clarify. Please let us know if there specific pages or processes that need to be revised for clarity or added detail.
We'll see what we can do to simplify the landing page. Communication--Cardinal
Basecamp isn't everything we need it to be. We used to use mailing lists and they had different challenges. We're keeping our eyes open for other options, but we also have a lot of history in Basecamp at the moment.
To keep up to date on outages information, please subscribe to our Incidents Basecamp group. Our updates should be in our General Discussion group. We should have more updates on card holder policies in the upcoming year.
We can do that.
We can do that.
We can do that.
We try to keep everyone up to date on when we're preparing for an upgrade and summarize what we expect those changes to be, with a link to the full version notes. For the bigger picture of what's happening with Evergreen, we try to post the interest groups that are happening, but in general we suggest subscribing to Evergreen's General Discussion mailing list to keep up on the software's development https://evergreen-ils.org/communicate/mailing-lists/ |
Basecamp |
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We'd be interested in suggestions of how we should reform it. We're always working to try to find the best way to make it suit the consortium's needs. |
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We used to use mailing lists and they had different challenges. We're keeping our eyes open for other options. |
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This year we've been developing some Basecamp Best Practices for posting, responding, etiquette etc. that will also include some tips for how to reduce and avoid extra email traffic. |
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That's encouraging to hear! |
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We've tried to have a variety of Basecamp groups focused on different topics so that library staff can choose the ones most suited to their job and interests. This year, at a librarians suggestion, we added a Tech Discussion group for folks that are interested in a deeper dive into some of the technical and configuration options available. If you'd like to leave a group, there should be an Unsubscribe link in the bottom of the email notification you receive, or contact the Cardinal team and we can remove you. |
Permissions |
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We're not sure if you're referring to bib records or patron records. For bib records, a bib cataloger should be able to merge the records. For patron records, Branch Admins or System Admins should be able to merge the patron records. If you encounter issues with merging, please submit a ticket so we can figure out specifically what's going on. |
Passwords |
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This functionality will be rolled out in our next phase of staff password project |
Student Access |
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We rely on the school systems to send us updates. We're happy to receive and process the feeds as often as they provide them. |
Migrations |
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We're happy to help however we can as you're getting adjusted and settled. Newly migrated libraries are more than welcome to schedule follow up calls with the Cardinal Team, after the migration has been completed to discuss and resolve specific issues regarding workflows. Migration mentors assigned to migration process are also accessible after Go Live to provide continue support in areas that may be best addressed by library staff member with front line experience. |
Consortium growth |
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We're in active conversations with other libraries that are considering joining in the future and are always open to talking to libraries interested in joining Cardinal. |
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This information is scattered throughout our Knowledge Book pages, so we made a page that links to all of them: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=939 |
Other |
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We have created a wishlist bug report on Launchpad for this request. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2074009 |
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If you go to the top right of the list of lost items you can choose to add Author to that list (referred to as a grid) Then, you can go back to that down arrow and choose Download Full CSV, which will allow you to look at that same information as a spreadsheet, reorder it and print it. (Don't forget to go to that down arrow and choose Save Columns if you want Author to always show up when you look at that list) |
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We like the sound of this and are interested in learning more about what you mean |
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We're not quite sure what your comment means, but we're interested in learning how we can help with legacy fines. |
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The State Library Department NC Cardinal is a part of, Library Development, is actively engaged in supporting libraries addressing book bans and censorship. If you need support, please reach out to Library Development Director Sarah Gransee at sarah.gransee@dncr.nc.gov We're here to help! |
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We're open to suggestions |
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In recent years, we've rolled out a variety of customization options (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=887) if you'd like to make any of these changes, please submit a ticket. |
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This is something we've been discussing and are working our way towards an up-to-date policy. Our existing policy was put together about a decade ago, in a time before there were as many Cardinal libraries in adjoining counties. |
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We'd like to learn more about what you mean. |
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This is a decision made by each library individually and not a policy Cardinal sets |
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We'll investigate whether we can do this. Thanks for the idea. |
Praise |
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We appreciate the helpful comments, suggestions and feedback from you all! |